State Farm Pulls Back In Texas

State Farm Pulls Back In Texas

Eleven thousand residents of coastal Texas may be looking
for a new homeowners insurance carrier, according to a report
in the Houston Chronicle
("
11,000 State Farm customers left high and dry," by Dan
Wallach). "State Farm said it will not renew regular homeowner
policies - aside from windstorm coverage - affecting 11,000
customers in parts of Orange, Jefferson, Chambers, Galveston
and Brazoria counties after May 1," the paper reports.
State Farm did not give a detailed reason for its decision,
but said through a spokesman, "We must strike a balance between
our exposure and our ability to pay claims." Reports the
Chronicle, "A Texas Department of Insurance spokesman
said State Farm has notified the agency of its intent to
non-renew a portion of its coastal Texas business over the next
12 months.
Some policyholders are not pleased, reports Houston TV
station KTRK
("
State Farm nixing policies to some coastal communities," by
Jeff Ehling. Nineteen-year State Farm customer John Hudspeth
told the station, "I feel like I'm being ripped off, I feel
like this is another case of the American, hardworking people
being ripped off by a giant corporation."
And Hudspeth says he's left wondering why the national
company would decide to terminate his policy; besides the fact
that the home lies nine miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico,
he says, Texas Windstorm, the state's high-risk pool insurer of
last resort, covers his house against hurricane wind damage,
while the federally backed National Flood Insurance Program
covers it for water damage.